To cancel your NAR membership, submit a written resignation to your local Realtor association; because the local, state, and national tiers are linked, that single resignation ends all three at once. Knowing how to cancel NAR membership cleanly also means handling a few things the resignation does not touch on its own: your MLS subscription, your lockbox service, and your use of the Realtor trademark. Paid dues are generally not refundable, so timing matters too.
Why You Only Resign to Your Local Board
NAR operates under a three-way agreement that ties your local association, state association, and the national organization into a single membership.1National Association of REALTORS®. About NAR You cannot belong to one tier without the others. When you resign, your local board processes the change and updates the National Realtors Database System, which ends your status at the state and national levels automatically. You do not need to contact NAR headquarters or your state association separately.
The flip side: if the local board does not process your resignation, you remain a member at all three levels and dues keep accruing. Everything goes through that local office.
What to Have Ready Before You Submit
Pull your NRDS Member ID, a nine-digit number assigned to every Realtor. It appears on the mailing label of Realtor Magazine, on your membership card, or through the Member ID recovery tool on NAR’s website.2National Association of REALTORS®. Updating Member ID
Identify your primary local association. Your NRDS profile or your most recent dues invoice will show it. Check that board’s website for a specific resignation or termination form. Some boards use a dedicated form submitted by the broker; others accept a written resignation letter directly from the agent.
If you are staying active in real estate and only dropping the Realtor affiliation, loop in your broker of record. Many local boards require broker acknowledgment because their bylaws tie a brokerage’s compliance status to the membership status of its agents. Handling that upfront avoids delays.
Submitting the Resignation
Send your resignation through whatever channel your local association prefers. Some boards offer an online portal that timestamps the submission. If yours does not, use email with a read receipt or certified mail so you have proof of the date. That date determines when your dues obligation stops.
After the board processes the resignation, ask for written confirmation. Keep it with your business records. It is your proof that you left in good standing, which matters if you ever apply to join a different association later.
Dues Are Generally Not Refundable
NAR national dues cannot be prorated when you resign mid-year, and dues are generally not refundable.3National Association of REALTORS®. Dues Diligence State and local associations set their own proration policies, and many take the same approach. Pay in January, resign in March, and you are unlikely to see any of that money back.
Timing is therefore part of the decision. The most cost-effective moment to resign is just before your annual billing cycle, which for most associations falls at the end of the calendar year. NAR’s national portion for 2026 is $156 per member, and once local and state dues are added, the total often runs several hundred dollars or more depending on the market.4National Association of REALTORS®. How NAR Membership Dues Help REALTORS to Succeed If you are on the fence, decide before the renewal invoice arrives.
Cancel MLS and Lockbox Services Separately
Your resignation does not cancel your MLS subscription or your lockbox service. Those are separate agreements with their own billing cycles, and they will keep charging you until you cancel them directly.
For MLS access, contact your MLS provider and follow its cancellation procedure. Some systems allow cancellation through an online dashboard; others require written notice. If you want to keep MLS access as a non-member, that option exists in many markets. Non-member MLS participation is determined at the local level, and any fee difference for non-members must be reasonable and directly related to the cost of providing the service.5National Association of REALTORS®. Providing Products and Services to Non-Members In practice, non-member MLS fees tend to run noticeably higher than what Realtor members pay.
Lockbox services from providers such as Supra or SentriLock also need their own cancellation. If your local board issued physical hardware like a lockbox key or card, return it within the timeframe the board specifies to avoid replacement charges. Deadlines and fee amounts vary by association, so check your board’s policy. After cancellation, watch your bank or credit card statements for at least one full billing cycle to confirm the recurring charges have actually stopped.
Stop Using the Realtor Trademark
The word “Realtor” is a registered trademark of NAR, and only current members may use it.6National Association of REALTORS®. Membership Suspension Information Once your resignation takes effect, remove it from everywhere it appears: business cards, yard signs, website headers, email signatures, social media profiles, print ads, and any listing presentations or templates. This is the step people most often forget, and NAR does enforce its trademark.
You remain a licensed real estate agent or broker. You just cannot call yourself a Realtor. Do a careful audit of your marketing materials within the first week after confirmation.
Pending Ethics Complaints and Arbitration Continue
Resigning does not end a pending ethics complaint. If a complaint was filed against you before you resigned, the association will carry it through to a final decision.7National Association of REALTORS®. Part 4, Section 20 – Initiating an Ethics Hearing Complaints filed after your resignation for conduct that occurred while you were a member are also processed. If the hearing results in discipline, that discipline is held in abeyance until you try to rejoin any Realtor association, at which point it takes effect.
The same principle covers arbitration. Your duty to submit to arbitration continues after your membership ends if the underlying dispute arose while you were still a member.8National Association of REALTORS®. Statements of Professional Standards Policy (Complete Listing) Resigning to avoid a proceeding does not work, and the obligation will surface again if you ever rejoin.
Your Real Estate License Is Unaffected
Your state real estate license and your Realtor membership are separate. Resigning from NAR has no effect on your license. You can keep listing properties, representing buyers, and closing transactions. What you lose is the Realtor brand and association-specific tools, and in many markets you can still participate in the MLS as a non-member at a higher fee.
If You Decide to Rejoin
You can apply to any local Realtor association later; you do not have to return to the same board. Rejoining typically means a new application fee on top of current dues, and if your prior membership ended with unresolved discipline, that will come up during reinstatement. Clear any outstanding obligations before reapplying.